Mitigation of organic fouling of ultrafiltration membrane by peroxymonosulfate activated by activated carbon loaded with CoFe2O4

Activated carbon loaded with CoFe2O4 (CoFe2O4/PAC) was synthesized using the sol-gel method, and its efficiency and mechanism for activating peroxymonosulfate (PMS) for mitigating organic fouling of ultrafiltration membrane was investigated. The results indicated that pretreatment of humic acid (HA) solution by CoFe2O4/PAC+PMS significantly alleviated membrane fouling. Compared with pretreatment by PAC+PMS, specific flux was increased by 55% after CoFe2O4/PAC+PMS pretreatment, and reversible and irreversible fouling resistance were decreased by 62% and 51%, respectively. The CoFe2O4/PAC+PMS pretreatment exhibited high removal efficiency for effluent organic matter (EfOM) of wastewater treatment plant, with the removal rate for DOC reaching 76.4%, and the removal rate for main fluorescence components reaching 53.1%~67.7%. Moreover, organic matter with higher molecular weight was preferentially removed. Therefore, CoFe2O4/PAC+PMS pretreatment of EfOM resulted in 69% and 67% reduction of the reversible and irreversible fouling resistance, respectively. Additionally, CoFe2O4/PAC exhibited good magnetic separation performance and reusability. © 2024 Chinese Society for Environmental Sciences. All rights reserved.